Blackened Bang Bang Shrimp

I’m combining two of my all time favorite recipes, blackened shrimp with bang bang shrimp, into one fabulous dish for a mouthwatering dinner!

You may recognize this variation of a copycat recipe from Bonefish Grill. If you can’t make it to the restaurant, then you will love this recipe. If you have never tried it before, then you must give it a try and see what everyone’s talking about.

What Is Bang Bang Shrimp? 

If you have never been to the Bonefish Grill, then you are in for a treat. This is a variation on their famous Bang Bang Shrimp dish that is so popular.

Bang Bang Shrimp is lightly fried crunchy shrimp covered in a spicy, sweet, creamy sauce that makes an out of this world appetizer or main dish. It is popular for a reason. It tastes awesome.  

If you have been to Bonefish Grill, then you know what I’m talking about. We used to go to Bonefish Grill when we were in Houston. However, now that we live in San Antonio, the restaurant has no locations here, which makes me sad.

So now when I get a craving for Bang Bang Shrimp, I have to make it myself. It is one of my favorite Seafood recipes as well as one of my favorite Copycat Restaurant Recipes.

What Makes This Recipe Unique?

I decided to tweak the recipe slightly by spicing up the shrimp more, and adding flavor to every layer in the recipe. You may describe this Bang Bang Shrimp in many different ways but no one will say that it is bland.

I made up a batch of my Cajun Blackened Seasoning and used that to season the shrimp and the shrimp batter. I like to make my own because that way I can control the amount of each ingredient to my specification, especially the salt. I typically use much less salt than store bought seasonings, which are often much too salty.

How To Make Blackened Bang Bang Shrimp

Ingredients

Below I discuss the ingredients that make this recipe unique. However, if you are looking for the specific measurements of all of the ingredient, be sure to scroll down to the bottom of this article, just above the comments, for the printable recipe card, which includes all all the ingredients and the specific amounts of each one.

Bang Bang Sauce:

1. Mayonnaise. This is what makes the sauce creamy. If you are trying to make it healthier, you could use Greek Yogurt.
2. Sweet Thai Chili Sauce. No substitutes here. This Sweet Thai Chili Sauce gives it that distinctive Bang Bang sauce flavor.
3. Sriracha sauce. This is optional. This gives the sauce a little spicy kick. If you don’t like spicy, you can reduce the amount or leave it out altogether.
4. Honey. Since I add more spice to the recipe with the Blackened Seasoning, I balance it with the sauce by adding a little extra sweetness with the honey.

Shrimp:

• Extra-large (26 – 30) shrimp. I used larger shrimp because I just prefer them to the smaller shrimp. However, if you like the shrimp to be more bite-sized, then you could use a smaller-sized shrimp. I do recommend buying frozen shrimp. For shrimp that is not frozen, you don’t know how long they have been sitting out. Therefore, I just stick with frozen shrimp.
• Cajun Blackening Seasoning. You can use as little or as much as you like, depending on how spicy you like the shrimp.

Bowl 1: 

• 1 cup Buttermilk. If you don’t have buttermilk, you can make your own by adding a tablespoon of vinegar to a cup of milk and then letting it sit for about 5 minutes.

Bowl 2: 

This bowl contains the ingredients to make the light, crispy batter on the shrimp. The cornstarch makes it a lighter crunch. However, by itself, it sometimes does not stick to the shrimp. By soaking the shrimp in buttermilk first and mixing the cornstarch with a little flour, it helps the coating to stick to the shrimp. Of course, the blackened seasoning is added to add additional flavor for this layer.

• Flour
• Cornstarch
• Cajun Blackening Seasoning

Garnish:

Below are examples of garnishes you can use to serve with the shrimp. They are completely optional. However, hopefully it will give you ideas of how you can serve the shrimp and make a nice presentation.

• shredded lettuce
• Cole slaw
• Green Onions
• Cilantro
• Red cabbage
• Pico De Gallo
• Limes
• Mexican Crema (sour cream, Mexican Creme, or Greek yogurt with milk)

Directions

• Make the Bang Bang Sauce by combining all ingredients until Bang Bang Sauce in a small bowl. (Scroll down to the printable recipe card for the amounts of each ingredient.)

• Make the recipe for Cajun Blackening Seasoning Mix. 
• Thaw the shrimp by placing it in a colander and running cold water over it for a few minutes until all shrimp are thawed.
• Get out the buttermilk or take 5 minutes to make it by pouring 1 tablespoon of vinegar in a cup of milk and letting it sit for 5 minutes.

• Sprinkle half of the Cajun Blackening Seasoning evenly over all sides of the shrimp.

• Pour the buttermilk over the shrimp.

• In a small bowl stir together the cornstarch, flour, and remainder of the Cajun Blackening Seasoning.
• Remove each shrimp, drain off any excess buttermilk and add it to the bowl of cornstarch, flour, and seasoning. Coat all sides of every shrimp.

• Place the cornstarch mixture covered shrimp on a wire rack on a sheet pan.

• Heat the oil to 350 degrees F. You can use a wooden spoon to test if it is hot. If you see bubbles around it, then it is hot. However, the best way to determine the temperature of the oil is to use a thermometer.
• Drop the shrimp one at a time, and frying in batches, maybe 6 at a time (depending on how big your pan is) so there is space between each shrimp. Repeat with each batch until all shrimp are fried.

• Remove the fried shrimp to a separate sheet pan. I like to place paper towels in the bottom of the sheet pan and place a wire rack on top to allow the fried shrimp to drain.

• Either drop the shrimp in the bang bang sauce to coat them all over with the sauce, or use the sauce as a dipping sauce so you can dip each shrimp into the dipping sauce. Either way, it is delicious.

More Delicious Recipes

• Mexican Shrimp Salad
• Cajun Shrimp and Salsa
• Bang Bang Chicken Wonton Tacos
• Kung Pao Chicken
• Tijuana Shrimp Dip Nachos
• Spicy Pesto Shrimp Primavera
• Cajun Blackened Chicken
• Cajun Blackened Salmon

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